Today, my parents got back their tax return for 2014 and I immediately rushed to update the FAFSA so I wouldn’t forget. But after I submitted, my dad was reviewing the tax return and noticed there was some mistakes on it due to the fact that he has switched to a new accountant this year. I think the new accountant estimated a way higher income that what my parents actually had since my estimate went down.
Tomorrow, my dad is going to the accountant again to straighten up the mistakes that were made.
I was wondering if the FAFSA will let me correct the mistakes made tomorrow and not raise any red flags. I’m also wondering if I update again, will my schools question the sudden changes?
I know it seems like a small issue, but I’m freaking out on the inside because the new estimate is a little high for my financial situation at the moment.
Please help me before I stress myself out to death.
Yes you can make updates. If the school finds anything unusual they may do a verification to check all your numbers. Be aware that schools verify a certain percentage of students anyway.
I’m confused. The accountant would be entering income that was provided to him by your parents. Are you saying that the accountant entered the wrong numbers? If so, if your parents submitted their tax return, they will need to amend it.
If they amend their return, I don’t believe you will be able to use the IRS DRT, and might need to get a tax transcript if your college requests it…but only if requested.
Hopefully, the return was not submitted!
But to answer your question…you need to wait until your newest FAFSA submission processes. Then you can make changes.
But really…the FAFSA needs to be reflective of what is on the filed taxes…so if the taxes need to be amended…that puts a little twist in this.
@thumper1 I don’t know the exact details but I just know that the income went up higher than it should have. My dad is going to the accountant tomorrow so they can fix the mistakes.
I don’t think I used the IRS DRT anyway. Can you explain it to me?
So, I should wait until the FAFSA process is finished completely before making changes or just make the changes immediately after the new tax return comes in?
You cannot make any changes to the FAFSA until this one has processed. This usually takes a few days or so. So just wait for now. It is possible you will have the new tax return about the same time the FAFSA processes…assuming this can be done this quickly.
Yes, relax, take a breath, and give these changes a day or two to update. Then double-check the figures with your dad, and update again with accurate numbers.
The DRT - data retrieval tool - allows FAFSA to pull your parents financial information directly from their tax return. But this wouldn’t be available until at least a few weeks after their return is filed, so it’s nothing for you to worry about right now.